When it comes down to it there is nothing better than manual tools for your Lock pick Set, whether they be retail, homebrew, macgyver style. DIY'ers look here.
So i am trying to decide before i finish up sanding and put handles on my latest batch of hooks im messing around with making I was wanting to Make a couple Long hooks for rainy days and im wondering if maybe they are simply too long... What do you guys find you use most as far as Gonzo's or Postal hooks go and where is the real cut off line where you end up shaving the end off to make it useful to yourself? I took a couple pictures up next to a Gem size and next to Falle drawings to show the height.
These are still rough i know i have to finish finer filing then i will sand everything so please dont think they are close to done. These are all .016 - .018 thickness with .065 - .085 neck heights in picture before final filing to give perspective.
(I use file labels to draw on Trace etc then stick them on metal use a box cutter to cut them out then file or shave off the material i dont want etc)
After im done of course ill finish sanding and put handles on them etc will look similar to these
I finished Filing them and cleaned them up a little so this might give little more perspective i feel like lopping them down a bit but maybe i should just leave em for rainy day?
Maliphus, your work is getting better, but I would recommend buying a traditional pick set so you can compare the geometry of the pick profiles hands on, it's just something templates from the internet won't show you.
I know the shame level for this comparison is pretty high but nice sets havent been in the recent budget. I only have two cheap sets one because the case is worth more then the picks
Except all mine are thinner then the purchased picks as i am working on ways to improve when i start picking Euro and increasingly hard locks down the road.
Maliphus7 wrote:I know the shame level for this comparison is pretty high but nice sets havent been in the recent budget. I only have two cheap sets one because the case is worth more then the picks
Except all mine are thinner then the purchased picks as i am working on ways to improve when i start picking Euro and increasingly hard locks down the road.
I meant more of a traditional set like a Southord http://www.southord.com/Lock-Pick-Tools ... XS-08.html I've never been a fan of the GOSO's or the $5 dollar sets sold on bang good or deal extreme, they're basically all hooks and they're very strange looking hooks, at least to me since I learned on a short hook like the ones made by Southord or HPC.
and I hope you're not ashamed of your work, many people here do not even know how to work with metal or have never bothered trying, so you're way ahead of the curve. I know when I tried making Bogotas, it was a real chore to remove metal, and not file too deep and then when sanding and polishing trying to make the pick shape, being careful to keep peak geometry the same from peak to peak. More than one set was ruined because I would go too far and then the pick didn't look like some of the other hand made ones people posted here.
and I hear ya about money to buy factory made sets, nothing wrong with Do It Yourself tools! Squelchtone
As Squelchtone said you are way ahead of the curve. I have a lot of picks in photos against a scale that you could work from. I'll try to get these pics reposted since my site is no longer live.
For the best book out there on high security locks and their operation, take a look at amazon.com for High-Security Mechanical Locks An Encyclopedic Reference. Written by our very own site member Greyman! A true 5 Star read!!
You can very easily get a couple of individual commercial picks from better companies, who have been making picks since before picking became a hobby industry.
When you have a lot of practice under your belt, the many, many variations available won't mean anything. Many of us just use 2 or 3 picks and more turning tools for the various keyways.
Until you know what works for you, making such a variety is only for show. So, stick with the basics until you know you need a small variation and then make it just for that lock.
I agree with what has been said above about many people not even trying to make anything. You are way ahead of many by trying to make your own. Expertise in picking and making the picks will only come with experience.
Good luck.
Nothing is foolproof to a talented fool. Wisdom is not just in determining how to do something, but also includes determining whether it should be done at all.
Yea I have only been doing locksport for about 4 months i was disabled for last 12 months (10 months on crutches) and finally drove me crazy enough had to start working on something constructive lol. (herniated disk with extreme sciatic nerve pain from Radiculopathy) anyways sad story aside been on a dollar store budget gave up computer games and converted my old computer desk in my apartment complex into a workshop haha.
Here is my "workshop" or majority of it without spamming links lol (mind you its on 2nd story of a apartment complex and my neighbors swear they cant hear me even working at 3 AM lol. Oh and a shot at my terrible lock collection minus a couple locks and my cutaway disk detainer lock...
I am 30 years old been truck driving and farming and grew up on family farm my entire life and pretty much born and raised in a shop so working around metal and tools are second nature to me... Raised to do things right and quality is better then quantity.
During my downtime of being broken i have probably spent 500+ hours just watching instructional videos and guides Def Cons you name it reading full manuals my study to action ratio is probably 20 to 1 simply because i need information and i dont have resources to do much right now anyways. I am however going to buy 27 feet of metal i think from Killjoy39 to try out his banding to see how i like it.
Early on i was making the mistake of thinking all 3 humped rakes were Bogotas because of the liberal use of the wording (welcome to the internet) i wrote raimundo an apology a while back for repeating the process and have since corrected that on any and all posts/ videos etc i have ever dont and i actually followed his guide and made a real bogota (well as close as i could get ) And here is the video i made to follow that adventure.
And here is another picture of those hooks after I finally finished slimming them down and decided to lop a bit off the tip of the Gonzo's and I think im happy with where they are currently.
Maliphus7 wrote:Yea I have only been doing locksport for about 4 months i was disabled for last 12 months (10 months on crutches) and finally drove me crazy enough had to start working on something constructive lol. (herniated disk with extreme sciatic nerve pain from Radiculopathy) anyways sad story aside been on a dollar store budget gave up computer games and converted my old computer desk in my apartment complex into a workshop haha.
Here is my "workshop" or majority of it without spamming links lol (mind you its on 2nd story of a apartment complex and my neighbors swear they cant hear me even working at 3 AM lol. Oh and a shot at my terrible lock collection minus a couple locks and my cutaway disk detainer lock...
I am 30 years old been truck driving and farming and grew up on family farm my entire life and pretty much born and raised in a shop so working around metal and tools are second nature to me... Raised to do things right and quality is better then quantity.
During my downtime of being broken i have probably spent 500+ hours just watching instructional videos and guides Def Cons you name it reading full manuals my study to action ratio is probably 20 to 1 simply because i need information and i dont have resources to do much right now anyways. I am however going to buy 27 feet of metal i think from Killjoy39 to try out his banding to see how i like it.
Early on i was making the mistake of thinking all 3 humped rakes were Bogotas because of the liberal use of the wording (welcome to the internet) i wrote raimundo an apology a while back for repeating the process and have since corrected that on any and all posts/ videos etc i have ever dont and i actually followed his guide and made a real bogota (well as close as i could get ) And here is the video i made to follow that adventure.
And here is another picture of those hooks after I finally finished slimming them down and decided to lop a bit off the tip of the Gonzo's and I think im happy with where they are currently.
Been there. Herniated s5 l4 and 5 surgeries to fix and months of therapy. Legit advice from me is to avoid opiate pain meds as much as possible. Physical therapy is your friend after every surgery. 11 months after my final surgery I was weight training again. Two years after that I was training strongman and pulling semis and qualifying for il championships. Pain med free for about 5 years. Though I do eat kittens to hit my protein macros.
For the best book out there on high security locks and their operation, take a look at amazon.com for High-Security Mechanical Locks An Encyclopedic Reference. Written by our very own site member Greyman! A true 5 Star read!!
Haha Yea I like to think im pretty fortunate my doctors and medical staff say im kinda miracle case. 3 years ago i quit smoking cold turkey i rarely drink no drugs and even though im prescribed my pain meds my doctor knows i dont always take em if i dont need to lately since i got off the crutches they haven't even changed my script but i make my prescription last 2 months instead of 1 month so only taking 50% of whats prescribed and sometimes only 25% on good days nice part is i am not one to abuse anything or the system so my doctor trusts me i had an issue when i was changed my prescriptions early on my insurance would freak out and say they would only fill larger quantity every x number of days etc or i was going to have to pay for them myself so guess not having an addictive personality and having a history of being honest upstanding guy pays off.
I have lost 110 lbs in the last year and was able to avoid surgery all together!!! so i have been off crutches now for about 4 months. Things are looking up i have started looking for low impact work (verizon store or gamestop etc) something without lifting where its small i can sit on a stool if things get bad so ive got my head up and on the road to recovery and loving Locksport and trying to get a little less noobish haha
Sounds like you're on the right path. Hang in there.
For the best book out there on high security locks and their operation, take a look at amazon.com for High-Security Mechanical Locks An Encyclopedic Reference. Written by our very own site member Greyman! A true 5 Star read!!
haha then again i think people make Lock Pick jewlery and like pins and stuff here is something i made in less then 5 minutes out of piece of scrap i had just for kicks made a mini pick. (I did this just on the grinder/Flapwheel no filing or anything.)
Squelchtone wrote: I meant more of a traditional set like a Southord http://www.southord.com/Lock-Pick-Tools ... XS-08.html I've never been a fan of the GOSO's or the $5 dollar sets sold on bang good or deal extreme, they're basically all hooks and they're very strange looking hooks, at least to me since I learned on a short hook like the ones made by Southord or HPC.
and I hope you're not ashamed of your work, many people here do not even know how to work with metal or have never bothered trying, so you're way ahead of the curve. I know when I tried making Bogotas, it was a real chore to remove metal, and not file too deep and then when sanding and polishing trying to make the pick shape, being careful to keep peak geometry the same from peak to peak. More than one set was ruined because I would go too far and then the pick didn't look like some of the other hand made ones people posted here.
and I hear ya about money to buy factory made sets, nothing wrong with Do It Yourself tools! Squelchtone
This Southord set you linked looks just like this wallet set i totally forgot to mention i bought long ago and hides in my wallet and i forget all about it unless i need it.... Wonder if this is close enough?
) And here is the video i made to follow that adventure.
